


The Assassin and The Empath

by Excusemylaziness



Category: Justice League vs. Teen Titans (2016)
Genre: Awkward Crush, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, F/M, Friends to Lovers, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Slow Build, They deserved better, Touch-Starved, nightwing is a good bro, rewrote this instead of sleeping
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:08:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26326912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Excusemylaziness/pseuds/Excusemylaziness
Summary: After the recent defeat of Trigon some of the titans decide to go on a trip leaving Raven, Damian and Cyborg back at the tower. What's the worst that could happen with a determined Cyborg trying to help two stoic teens find love. Will he be able to get the two birds together?
Relationships: Diana (Wonder Woman)/Clark Kent, Dick Grayson & Damian Wayne, Dick Grayson/Koriand'r, Raven/Damian Wayne
Comments: 15
Kudos: 42





	1. Chapter 1

It had been a few weeks after the Titans had defeated Trigon and everyone was getting used to the newest member. Cyborg had instantly fit right in. He played video games with Beastboy, sparred with Blue beetle, was good friends with Starfire and became like a sort of older brother to Raven. As for Damian he was well he wasn’t on his bad side which is honestly the best outcome anyone could hope for.

It was a quiet day in the tower. No alarms blaring that they needed to be anywhere and there was no training scheduled for the day. Jaime was in the kitchen testing a new recipe. Raven was mediating in front of the sofa where Damian was quietly reading and occasionally stealing glances at the empath. “BEASTBOY! WHEN I CATCH YOU YOU’RE DEAD GRASS STAIN!” Cyborg yelled chasing after a fleeing Beastboy. 

“Catch me if you can metal man hahahahaha.” Beastboy yelled back as he was turning into the common area. The calm was broken and disrupted more as Beastboy roared morphing into a cheetah. Not paying attention he dashed into the room. Cyborg stopped at the door to wipe some oil off his face. Beastboy ran past Raven and Damian before he crashed into something.

“Aye man watch it” Jaime said, trying to save the plate of food Garfield had nearly knocked out of his hands while leaving the kitchen. Managing to save the plate he was now pushing a de-morphed Beastboy off of him.

“Haha sorr” Beastboy didn’t have a chance to finish since Cyborg now had him by the back of his shirt. Lifting him off of Jaime and into the air.

“Woah what happened to you?” Jaime asked just realizing the state his metal friend was in.

“The grass stain here thought it would be funny to rig a bunch of balloons filled with motor oil to hit me when I opened the door to my room.” 

“Dude that is so AWESOME” Jaime started laughing but was quickly silenced at the glare Cyborg gave him “I uh I mean so not cool dude.” Dusting himself off Jaime quickly moves away from the two taking his food with him.

“Do you think you could be any less loud. I’m trying to meditate here.” Raven chimed in her usual monotone voice laced with slight annoyance.

“Sorry Raven.” Cyborg said sparing a glance in her direction as he kept hold of Garfield. He noticed that Damian was actually sitting rather close to her given how big the couch was. In fact he was directly behind her reading some book that had way too many pages in it. His eyes stopped scanning the page and he glanced down at the empath for a second before resuming his reading. Interesting? He thought not realizing his attention was preoccupied enough that Garfield morph into a hummingbird and flew out of his grasp. “Aw COME ON!” Letting out a frustrated grunt as he watched Beastboy fly over to the doors. Just as he got to them Kori burst through the door.

“Everyone, I have great news!” With a huge smile on her face she entered.

“And I guess I’m done for the day.” Raven said getting up from her spot on the floor to sit next to Damian. Cyborg went into the kitchen to get a rag to clean his face. Coming back out he thought he saw that Damian had a ghost of a smile on his face before he put the book he was reading down and handed it to Raven. Who seemed to be almost too close to the boy. Cyborg had to blink a few times to make sure the oil in his eyes wasn’t messing with him, but as quickly as he thought he saw it it was gone.

“So what’s the news Starfire?” Jaime asked after swallowing a mouthful of food. 

“I have won a free trip to Hollywood. An a chance to model for the cover of a magazine ” 

Disinterested in the conversion, but not wanting to be rude Raven speaks as she gets up from her spot next to Damian “That’s great, Kori have fun.” 

“The trip isn't just for me, I'm allowed to bring two guest. Would any of you like to join me.” It’s a shame Dick can’t join me. We could have such a good time together. Oh well, but at least I could use this as another fun opportunity for the team.

“DUDE! I’m so in.” A now unmorphed Garfield exclaimed.

“Well I’m not interested.” Damian says promptly. He picks up the discarded book handing it back to Raven. His fingers brush against her and he can see the slightest bit of color on her cheeks. Clearing his throat he walks out the room.

Raven stood still for a few seconds before following his lead and leaving, which everyone assumed meant she too had declined the offer. 

Watching the interaction Cyborg's eyes followed after her. Is there something going on between those two? Couldn’t be? Could it? Hmm maybe they could use a helping hand. “I don’t think I’d be up for the trip so I guess that leaves you Jaime.” Cyborg tosses his rag on the counter before heading for the door.

“Sure, but I am not rooming with Garfield.” 

Garfield was about to start an argument when he felt himself being lifted by his shoulder. “I’m in trouble” he panics just remembering that the mechanical man was angry with him.

“Big time” First I’ll deal with him then I’ll figure out if something is going on with Damian and Raven. “Uh I’ll see ya later Kori.” Halfway out the door he lets his mind wander back to the two birds.

“Where are you going?” She asked but got no answer.

Cyborg was busy duck taping Garfield to the ceiling as he wondered how to find out more about his two most secretive teammates. Hmm now how should I go about this? Raven won’t just out and tell me if she has feelings for him. And Damian might kill me for just asking. Who could I ask for help? Kori might know but would that even be appropriate for me to ask. There’s also Batman but I mean calling Batman to ask about if his son has confided whether or not he's got feelings for Raven is a bit much. Especially if I ask how to get them together. Would he even be okay with it? I guess I could call Nightwing. I mean he is like Damian’s older brother right? After inspecting his work and covering Beastboy’s mouth with the last piece of tape he leaves and begins searching his internal data to find Nightwing's number.

He picked up after a few rings.“Umm Cyborg? Is something wrong?” The confusion evident in Nightwing’s voice. 

“Why does something have to be wrong?”

“Because we’ve never really spoken before outside of League meetings. So let me guess is Damian being a pain in the ass? Or did he throw his katana into another wall?” Nightwing joked before another more disturbing thought dawned on him. “Is something wrong with Kori? Is this about Kori??” 

“I didn’t know you were on a first name basis with Starfire.” Cyborg purposefully uses her hero moniker.

“Umm well ya see tha…”

Cyborg decided to go easy on him as he had suspected the two were an item from the few interactions he’d seen. Most people wouldn’t expect Cyborg to be as observant as he was considering how he was before the accident. But he’d always taken care to pay attention to those he’d consider family. Which now included Kori and the rest of the Titans. “It’s okay man and nothing is wrong with Kori or Damian. But I was wondering if Damian ever talked to you about uh regular things. Like hobbies, favorite foods, girls, books?” Smooth Vic. Real smooth. Cyborg berated himself for not thinking this through more.

“Damian and I don't really talk about that” Dick pauses and Cyborg can practically feel the moment Nightwing figures out his true intention behind the call. “,wait are you telling me Damian has a crush.The kid doesn’t have a life outside of the suit. And he knows about me and Kori so that could only leave”

Cyborg groans over the phone thinking of a way to salvage this “well I’m not saying that exactly. I’m uh just trying to get to know him better. He’s not the easy person to get along with.” Cyborg attempts to backpedal, but he can tell that Nightwing isn’t really listening to him.

“Oh man I can’t wait to tell Bruce this. Damian has a crush! Thanks for the tip man.” Nightwing hangs up and Cyborg can already tell he’s made a mistake.

Cyborg was on his way back to his room when he spotted Raven. Confusion briefly flickers across his face wondering why she’s on this floor since her and Kori’s rooms are one floor up.. He didn’t see her leave the room but he suspects she’d been to see Damian. He goes to catch up with her. “Raven wait up.”  
Stopping in her tracks she pulls her hood down turning to look at him “Victor.”

Just act natural “ So what are you doing up here? Looking for Damian?” I’m an idiot.

“Why would I be looking for him? He’s in the training room.” Raven says not to give anything away. She could feel Victor's nerves even though he was doing a good job at suppressing them. She raises an eyebrow at him. “Well if that's all.”

Before he could say anything else her soul self wraps around her and she disappears.


	2. Chapter 2

Cyborg stands there bringing his metal hand up to squeeze the bridge of his nose. _Is it possible I’m wrong. She didn’t really react that much, but then again Raven isn’t the most expressive person. And how’d she know where Damian was. Maybe I’m on the right track after all. Maybe I should ask Kori after. I know Raven thinks of her as a sister. And what sister wouldn’t want to help._ After deciding to get Kori’s help Victor decides to go find her.

“Hey Damian.” Cyborg says as he runs into him. Damian blocks his path putting his arm out to stop him. “Umm something I can do for you?”

“What makes you think you can meddle in my business?” Damian asks with venom in his voice.

_Uh oh this can’t be good_ “What do you mean?” _Be cool Vic._

“I had an interesting conversation with Nightwing just now. Want to take a guess as to what the conversation was about?” As Damian spoke Cyborg could almost feel the temperature around them drop. Even though Damian was less than half his size the young boy knew how to intimidate.

_Wow Nightwing works fast._ "Okay listen I just wanted to know if something was going on between you and Raven.”

“So your first course of action was to call Nightwing.” Damian raised an eyebrow as he locked his gaze on Cyborg.

“Well you know I did it out of concern for Raven she’s been through a lot recently.” _I hope he bought that because there’s no way I can explain this. “_ And I know he’s like your brother so I thought he’d know something.”

“So what you're saying is out of concern for Raven, you went and called Nightwing to ask about me. You know what it really sounds like is that you're just being a little too inquisitive for your own good. I advise you to stop it. Now.” 

_Damn this kid. He’s smart, but what else should I have expected from Batman’s son. Okay new plan. Try to calm him down so he doesn’t try to kill me._ Damian, not pleased By Victor’s silence, decides to give him another warning. 

“Next time you have something to say try speaking with me first. Don’t try to sneak around and get others involved because I will find out. And next time I won’t be as generous with just talking to you.” Damian walks past Victor leaving him to his thoughts.

_Note to self don’t piss off Damian._ Cyborg thinks while trying to figure out a new way to be more discrete.

_How dare he try to pry into personal matters. Not that anything that has to do with Raven and I are personal matters. She’s just the most tolerable person in this tower and we have a connection, she pried into my mind._ He doesn’t feel the same anger he once did at the fact that Raven had been in his head. Had felt what he’d been through. In fact he didn’t mind now that there was someone in the tower that he could be at ease around. Damian makes his way to his room. _I don’t have to justify anything to him. He shouldn’t be snooping to begin with. Raven and I just have a bond, that's it._

Damian is broken out of his thoughts at the shrill sound of Beastboy’s voice “Damian dude you gotta help me down. Cy used like a butt ton of tape.” He struggles against the tape

“You got yourself into this. You can get yourself out of it.” Not sparing him a second look Damian goes to enter his room.

Walking over to his bed he sees the book from earlier laying there. _Hmm Raven must’ve left it here after I gave it back to her earlier. I’ll have to talk with Cyborg and Starfire about upgrading the security system against all matter of intruders._ Damian sits on his bed, his fingers running down the spine of the book. _I better finish this so I can give it back to her. She seemed eager to hear my opinion of it._ Resting against the headboard he flips open to the page he left off on.

_I can’t believe Damian has a crush. Who knew the kid was capable of actually feeling things. Things other than bloodlust. Oh man I can’t wait to call Bruce and tell him. Wait, this is too good to just tell him over the phone. I need to see him in person for this._ Nightwing thought as he left his apartment making his way to his motorcycle. _If I hurry I can be in Gotham in no time. This is gonna be great. Maybe Bruce will finally crack a smile. His reaction to it has gotta be better than Damian's._ Dick thinks back to his earlier call with Damian as he swerves through traffic. Hanging up from Cyborg he had immediately called Damian. Finally he had something to tease the kid about. Just like Bruce the kid always had a poker face and never expressed what he was feeling except for the occasional outburst of anger.

“What do you want Grayson? I’m in the middle of training” Damian said with disdain as he slices through some of the training bots.

“Hello to you too.”

“Get to the point Grayson. I dislike having my time wasted.”

“Well I happened to hear from a mechanical buddy of mine” _I guess we’re buddies now_ “ that you’ve got something going on with your fellow bird in the tower” hearing Damian sigh heavily Dick couldn’t help, but smile at the thought of annoying him. "I guess the old saying is true. Birds of a feather flock together."

“Wipe that smile off your face Grayson I can feel it through the phone.” 

“I have no idea what you mean, but let's talk about something more interesting how’s Raven doing” There was an extended pause on the phone meaning Damian wasn’t willing to indulge in Nightwing's questioning.“ I mean I heard about everything and I mean everything. Kori was quite descriptive about the events at the carnival. The ferris wheel, the ring toss, even the two of you sharing cotton candy when you thought no one was looking. Oh and you had no idea how much I laughed when she told me you beat Garfield in a large scale version of DDR.” _More silence huh?_ “Also everything that had happened with going to a different dimension and you fighting Ra's”

“DON’T SAY THAT NAME!” 

_Must still be a bit sore about the fight_ ”well no matter just wanted to see how you and your little girlfriend are doing. Have fun, but not too much fun.”

“You’re an irritation, you know that.”

“Bye Damian” _The little brat he didn’t even say bye._

Dick was snapped out of his thoughts after noticing he’d already crossed into Gotham.

_Wow I didn’t even realize I was almost back to the manor._ It didn’t take Nightwing long to make his way up to familiar gates. He punched in his security code and rode up to Wayne Manor to be greeted by an old friend. As he got off his bike and walked up to the steps he gave Alfred a hug.

“Hello Master Dick what brings you here this evening. Master Bruce hadn’t told me you were coming?” The Englishman said, returning the hug.

“Nothing Alfred just some good news for Bruce about a certain psychopathic son of his. Where is he anyway?” Dick asked as they strolled through the Manor.

“Well Master Bruce is currently residing in the Batcave, but you”

“Thanks Alfred.” Dick had cut him off and was already making his way to the Batcave.

“Well that concludes the rest of the information briefing. Since there’s been no signs of the corrupters over this extended period of time it’s safe to say the demonic entity has truly left his realm.” Batman finishes up telling the rest of the league.

“Man won’t lantern be mad he missed this to go on some quest in space.” Flash said breaking the tension that held the room as Batman spoke.

“Flash please let Batman finish. ”Wonder Woman spoke up from her spot next to Superman.

“Now onto the next matter at hand Arthur contacted me from Atlantis he said that”

Nightwing burst into the cave interrupting Bruce “hey you’ll never believe what I found out today about Damian.” He stopped short at the stares of 3 Justice League members and his former mentor.

Batman let out a sigh at the sight of Nightwing’s excitement over something involving Damian. Nightwing was frozen from the realization that he’s interrupting.

“Uh am I interrupting?” Nightwing asked 

“Yes. Now what is so important that you had to barge in here?” 

_I came this far, I might as well continue._ “Well I just so happen to have some information concerning Damian that might be interesting to you.”

Batman gave nothing away as he waited for Dick to continue. “Whatever it is concerning Damian can surely wait.” He said in a steady tone that to others would sound disinterested, but to those like Dick who knew him well was laced with slight annoyance. 

“Come on Bruce, he came all the way here to tell you something about your son, don't you think you should hear him out?” Flash said as he sped from his position near Batman to behind Nightwing. “Go ahead Nightwing besides we could use a break.” 

_Well at least someone is interested in my news about Damian._ “Uh thanks Flash. Well rumor has it that the little demon has a soft spot for a certain female titan.” Nightwing attempts to hold back his amusement as he makes his announcement to Batman. He’s disappointed that his news only warranted a raised eyebrow. Wonder Woman was the first member to speak up.

“That is adorable, but from my understanding the age difference between Damian and Starfire would prove problematic.” Wonder Woman said stunning all the males in the room.

“Uh I think he was talking about Raven. At least I hope he is. You are talking about Raven right?” Superman asked, quickly rectifying the awkward assumption.

“Yes.” _Just the thought of that brat with my Kori. Truly the stuff of nightmares._

“And this warrants my concern because?” Batman asked, obviously not seeing why Nightwing was so adamant that this needed his utmost attention.

“It should concern you because your son has taken a liking to a girl. This is Damian we’re talking about. The kid who thinks most human interaction is unnecessary or bothersome if it doesn’t have to do training or involves you.” _Geez Bruce has always been cold when it comes to matters of the heart._

“You know maybe Nightwing’s onto something here. Perhaps giving the kid some fatherly wisdom would do him some good. No offense but your kid scares me.” Flash spoke up as he began to take another bite of a sandwich.

_When did he leave to get that?_ “Anyway I think that you should talk to him.” Nightwing said making his way over to Bruce.

“If Damian feels the need to bring this up than he and I will talk, but if you’re so worried about him then why don’t you go do something about it.” Batman said, turning back to his report.

_That’s actually not a bad idea. Plus what a better spot to watch and annoy Damian than from the front row. Oh this is going to be fun._ “Okay.” Nightwing simply stated. It was apparent that Batman had been surprised by how easily Dick agreed with him because he turned around slightly.

 _This won’t end well._ Is all Bruce thought as Nightwing started to walk away.

“Hey, sounds like fun count me in.” Flash said speeding back over to Nightwing.

“Me too.” Wonder Woman said stepping up to the two men. “And Superman will obviously be joining us on this endeavor to get the two young ones together.”

“I will?” Superman questioned looking at the amazon.

“Yes it will be just like in the movies” She responded to her boyfriend. “We can be like their fairy godmothers. Helping true love find its way.”

The four exit the Batcave to start scheming on how to get the two birds together. Dick hadn’t expected to receive help, but he was glad for it. In case something went wrong at least not all of Damian's anger could be directed at him. 

“At least they’re all out of my cave now”, Bruce said and he heard Alfred chuckle as he was bringing down some tea.

“Are you going to alert Master Damian of Master Dick’s plans?” He asks while setting the tea down.

Bruce just stands there and gives the older man a small smile.


End file.
